The Times of Israel

Famed Jewish conductor Michael Tilson Thomas dies at 81

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:23:24 +0000

LA-born Tilson Thomas, the scion of Yiddish theater royalty, conducted a wide range of symphonies around the world, including in Israel; died of brain cancer

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Many peptides are named to sound like Yiddish words. Here’s why

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:50:22 +0000

Pinchas Cohen is the Jewish USC researcher behind discoveries like SHLP ('schlep'), SHMOOSE and MENTSH, biological molecules that may help cure ailments and reverse aging

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Avenging angel risked her life to try to save Warsaw’s Jews — and lived to write about it

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 05:48:06 +0000

Updated English translation of Vladka Meed's 1948 Yiddish memoir, 'On Both Sides of the Wall,' breathes new life into her experiences with the Jewish resistance against the Nazis

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How the Yiddish-speaking Jews of Europe had themselves a merry little Nittel Nacht

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:30:54 +0000

A new book explores how, contrary to popular belief, Christmas was a festive time for Jewish men, who took time off from Torah study to play cards and games

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From Black cantors to kosher health nuts, new book reveals lost histories of Yiddish NYC

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 01:50:53 +0000

Great for Hanukkah, 'The Tourist’s Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City' by Henry H. Sapoznik is not your usual guidebook. In fact, many of the sites listed in it haven't existed for decades

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‘Food for the soul’: Germany pushes to revive an endangered language – Yiddish

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 09:21:00 +0000

Thousands from across the globe flocked to recent festival in city of Weimar, heartland of far-right activity; revival leaders wary of becoming wrapped in pre-WW II nostalgia

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At NY’s YIVO, a legendary unfinished Yiddish dictionary gets the last word — as opera

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 03:01:09 +0000

Premiering this week, 'The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language' tells the true story of Holocaust survivors and émigré scholars in NYC racing to salvage a civilization

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‘Schlep,’ self-appointed watchdog with Yiddish name, is banned from gaming platform

Sat, 16 Aug 2025 18:45:34 +0000

Roblox bars 'To Catch a Predator'-style sleuth, then blasts 'vigilantes' — sparking real-world lawsuit and giving the classic Jewish loanword a moment in the sun

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New album of Yiddish songs casts Israel as ‘evildoer’ in Gaza, with no mention of Oct. 7

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:42:07 +0000

With no condemnation of Hamas, 'Lider mit Palestine' draws on a long Jewish history of subversive music to express solidarity with the Palestinians and oppose the war

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Connie Francis, 20th-century star, recorded 60s album of Jewish songs

Sat, 19 Jul 2025 06:26:21 +0000

Francis, who dies this week, was not Jewish, but released 'Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites' in 1960, which included Yiddish, Hebrew songs

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Aaron Lansky built a home for 1.5 million Yiddish books. Now he’s handing over the keys

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:36:20 +0000

While under no illusions that the 1,000-year-old language will be revived outside the Haredi community, the outgoing Yiddish Book Center founder sees it offering new windows into Jewish culture

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How Yiddish writer Chaim Grade’s last novel was rescued and wrestled into print

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 22:16:27 +0000

The editors discuss how a previously lost decades-old manuscript was found and pieced together. It's being called 'probably the last great Yiddish novel'

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Dirty jokes and sacred texts: YIVO marks 100 years of preserving Yiddish culture

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 14:17:54 +0000

Artifacts from 1,000 years of Ashkenazi Jewish life including literary transcripts, Herzl's diary, everyday notes and children's scrawls connect prewar Jews with generations to come

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In Tel Aviv, a maestro revels in the ‘holy work’ of preserving Yiddish culture

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 06:29:38 +0000

Yung Yiddish hosts conductor Zalmen Mlotek, the man behind the acclaimed mamaloshen stage version of 'Fiddler on the Roof,' for an evening of song and camaraderie

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NYC gets first original American Yiddish drama in 70 years

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 20:47:39 +0000

New Yiddish Rep stages 'The Gospel According to Chaim,' which recounts a Galician Jew's efforts to shop around the Yiddish word of Christ

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